Well we are finally here - the last round. Thanks to everyone who has participated by voting and commenting. You have made this competition fun. Congratulations to Dean Winchester and Kate Beckett for getting to the final round. To get to the finals, Dean won over Mary, Queen of Scots, Daryl Dixon, Melinda May, Felicity Smoak, and Patrick Jane. Kate won over Lagertha, Norma Bates, Barney Stinson, Chandler Bing, and Vincent Keller. I'll be back tomorrow with one final post, including some contest statistics for those who requested them. If there are any stats you are particularly interested in, let me know in the comments below. Until then, happy voting!
Updated to add the contest rules one more time: The goal is for us to pass the hiatus time with great TV talk and loads of fun. Alas in every internet contest ever, there are always things that come up and ruin the fun for everyone. In an attempt to shoot for the stars and miraculously avoid these, here are the rules:
1. The Aliens Haven't Landed. There's No Conspiracy Here - I have no hidden agenda. Everything is placed in brackets based on number of nominations and ranking polls. If your favorite show goes against a giant, it's nothing personal. There's also no secret underground of people cheating polls. Nobody gets paid for that so nobody has time for that. Especially since this contest means absolute squat. It's just for fun.
2. Leave Sour Grapes on the Vine - Yeah, it sucks when your favorite gets kicked off by a show you hate. Yep, the winning character will come from the most organized fandom that works the hardest to get the word out. Them's the facts of life and internet, folks. It doesn't mean we can't have fun. So discuss why you love your favorite instead of vetching about life's unfairness and bringing down the room. I promise we'll all have more fun that way.
3. It's Not 2048 and My Name's Not Dorian - I will do my very best to keep the contest running smoothly and let you know the approximate time each poll ends. However, I occasionally do silly things like put the wrong date on a poll so it doesn't end the exact time I thought. Again see #1. Let me know and I'll fix it. I apologize in advance for any technical difficulties.
4. Comments are the Wellspring of Hiatus Life - Most of us anxiously await a favorite show's return and if you're like me, right about now is when I start feeling the wait the most. Why not distract yourself with a little TV talk? So explain your voting choices. What is your favorite thing about a character? Your favorite character arc? What are your hopes for him or her? The conversation is endless as long as someone starts it.
Previous contest results - Final rankings for all characters out in the fifth round now up. Final rankings have been moved to the top. Inital rankings below
Polls end - Wednesday around 5:00 pm CST
Prediction contest results - Toni is the only one with a perfect bracket this time and also the only one with a shot at getting the final winner correct. The majority of people whose final winner was still in the running had the final between Jane and Vincent. Janna however still leads the pack with 13 misses. Congrats to both!
TV Talk Topic - Before we get to the last topic, I just want to say how much fun it has been reminiscing about old TV shows, talking about how TV has enhanced lives, and debating the finer points of character building with you. I appreciate everyone who has participated in these. They have been my favorite part of the contest.
So without further adieu, our last TV Talk Topic has....nothing to do with TV. Sorry. Since it is the end of the contest, it makes sense to review it as a whole. What, besides poll results which we don't control, did you like and not like? How do you feel about only one contestant being allowed per show? Did you like the timing of the contest or would you prefer it to be earlier or later in the summer? Do you like having 4 polls per day or would you prefer there be more or less? Instead of pictures, would you like to see fanvids of the characters? Did the pictures slow down loading time too much for you? Should we not have pictures polls or did you like thatfeature? Did you participate in TV Talk Topics, and if so, would you like to do them again or drop them? What TV Talk Topics do you wish we had covered that we did not? Was there enough time to nominate? Did you like having 2 males and 2 females in nominating or would you prefer to just nominate 4 no matter the gender? Did you participate in the predictions contest, and if so would you like to see that again next year? Would you like to see the final poll last 48 hours instead of 24? How do you feel about the idea of the winner of the contest being retired so they cannot be in it the following year? Overall how did you feel about the contest?
My Pick - Dean Winchester, who was my favorite going into the contest as well. However I am really excited that Beckett made it this far too. Either my favorite wins or we have our first female winner. Both works for me.
ReplyDeleteTV Talk Topic - The Character Cup
Overall I think this competition has gone very well and that is all thanks to you guys for keeping it positive, light, and fun. Thanks. One of my favorite things is that there was only one contestant per show, which gave more shows time in the spotlight. If we had done it purely by nominations, instead of 64 shows being represented we would have at most 40 and at least 37. One show would have 5 characters entered, 2 shows would have 4, and 4 shows would have 3. Chances of a Final Four with at least 2 characters from the same show would have been high and it would have been theoretically possible for all candidates to be from the same show. That's not a contest I would care to see. I do like having nominations spread between male and female as well. I think that gives the contest better depth and diversity since many people would nominate all males if they had the choice. As it is we had 33 females in the contest so roughly half. I think that's awesome and I'm not sure that would be the case if nominations were completely open. I would however like the contest to begin earlier next year. Once Comic-Con hits, there is plenty for a TV fan to watch and read. Since one of the main purposes of the contest is to get us through hellatus, it would be awesome to end it before SDCC. I also like the idea of keeping the final poll to 24 hours. Realistically, it is the poll that has the least amount of overall interest because it only has 2 characters in it. Anyone not invested in those 2 characters could not care less, so dragging it out to 48 hours seems pointless to me.
I was toying with a lot of ideas during this contest, including doing 8 polls per day for the first round, using fanvids instead of pictures, and retiring the winner of the contest this year so they cannot participate again next year. I'd like your feedback on them. Personally I think the first round drags on so doing 8 polls would speed it to half the time. Of course that also means that the total contest days would be shorter as well, taking 12 days instead of 16. I like the idea of using fanvids as well, mostly o showcase fan work, but that would be very time consuming to find and not all vids are of the same quality. Plus they cannot be incorporated into the polls so people would have to click the links to get to the YouTube page. I'm not sure that would have quite the kick of the pictures being right there. Speaking of, how did pictures effect your total loading time? Was it too much when we did the picture polls? I always use my computer for these so I have no idea how it worked on a phone or tablet. My last idea is probably the most controversial, but I would really, really like to retire previous winners so that they cannot win again. Because we have only one person per show, all shows have other characters that could easily take the winner's place and I think it would stop some unhappiness if we didn't have the same winners over and over again. What do you think?
Even though my predictions were way off, especially in the first round, I have enjoyed the prediction contest a lot. It has been fun tracking who picked what and seeing how the actual results fared. If there is interest in keeping this part of the contest, I will continue to look into better ways to do it. Still my favorite new thing added to this contest has been the TV Talk Topics. It has been a blast getting to know people better through TV. My only concern is that we won't be able to think of enough new topics to cover next year, so if there's something you think we should have discussed please let me know. I'll put it in my notes for next year. Thanks again for a great contest. It's been a pleasure commenting and voting with you.
I love you, Kate, but my heart belongs to Dean :)
ReplyDeleteBeckett. I still watch Supernatural but it has been a long time since I felt strongly enough about any of its characters to vote for them in a poll or competition like this one. Kate was an easy choice for me today.
ReplyDeleteI've watched enough of both of these shows to vote for Kate Beckett.
ReplyDeleteSome feedback ... I appreciate what you were trying to do by getting more shows represented, but I found it very difficult to vote in the first round because it was rare that there was a competition where I had watched both characters. I could have just voted for the characters I had watched, and I did in some cases, but I felt guilty doing that, especially if I had heard good things about the character I had never seen. So the first round felt like just an exercise in purging the smaller shows and might have been more meaningful with more well-known characters.
ReplyDeleteI love both of them dearly,but when push comes to shove,it's kate.Sorry dean!
ReplyDeleteI did toy with the idea of going just by nominations but having all of a show's picks go against each other in the first and second rounds.
ReplyDeletekkkkatie. It's rare that I watch cop shows these days, but both Beckett and Castle are unusually entertaining. I'm also having issues with Dean at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThat's an idea. Or maybe as a compromise - limit a show's nominations to 2?
ReplyDeleteIts been a great competition , a great way to interact through discussions with other TV fans. Thanks to Dahne for running this!
ReplyDeleteI have liked the idea of 1 nominated character per show it keeps things interesting as with the best episode competition some shows had about 3 episodes in the competition and then we had a BATB face off in the semis i believe. It makes it more fun and their is a wider selection to choose from as i would of hated seeing the semis or final with two characters from the same show.
I would of actually preferred videos instead of pictures as for some rounds it was very hard to choose between and a video could have easily made my mind up quicker. I actually did use youtube a few times to take a look at some characters especially some from shows that ended a while ago. An example of this was Olivia from fringe , i had to look at some clips of her as i couldnt remember what she was like on Fringe.
I would have liked to have nominated four people (not gender specific) as i found it difficult to choose from the female characters especially as i had four ones that stood out to me Samantha Carter , Christina Yang , Regina Mills and Amy (from TBBT) and obviously had to narrow it down to two. I suppose if people were allowed to nominate whoever we would have either a lot more males or more females where as now we had an even amount of both nearly.
Dean Winchester gets my vote.
ReplyDeleteI knew it would be Dean and Beckett in the finals.
ReplyDeleteTopic:
ReplyDeleteI like the competition exactly as is. I really like it being in the middle of summer too when TV isn't too busy.
I don't want a winner "retired". I like a fair vote. I don't care if it may mean a character I like never has a good shot at winning. It's just a fun voting pass time after all.
I wouldn't want too much from one show. I really liked the variety of this.
ReplyDeleteWill always be Dean Winchester for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm glad you have had fun. I have enjoyed 1 character per show as well because it incorporated more people into the whole process and it was fun getting to talk about some shows that never make it into these things, even if just for a little while. I actually bought the Bates Motel DVDs because of this contest. Haven't gotten to watch it yet, but it's there when I have time. We can definitely do videos next time as long as people help me find them. Some fanvids are excellent and it would help me remember a character's finer moments. It sounds like you had the opposite problem of most of the comments I remember from the nomination page. Most people there had a plethora of male characters but few females. It might be interesting to open it up to 4 characters without stipulations and see what happens to the mix in the contest. I'm actually quite curious now.
ReplyDeleteAlways Dean Winchester. When i was watching Castle, Kate was far away from my favorite character on the show.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy Tv topic but unfortunately i couldn't participate in most of them, because i was on vacation for few weeks and had very slow mobile internet in that area.
I think is good idea to retire previous winners. Also i liked idea of 1 nominated character per show and liked that i had to nominate female and male charactres separately. Basically i like the competition exactly as is.
When competition started i had feeling that Dean and Kate would reach final.
It definitely has to be in midsummer because otherwise I have to go to that pesky job of mine. :-) I was thinking maybe late June or early July, working around the episode and show contests of course. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteRetiring a winner is a sticky question. A radio station in St. Louis does a March Madness contest for classic rockers and after the same person won a few times, they decided to retire him. Some people loved it because it gave someone new a chance. Others hated it. You are absolutely right that this is jsut a silly way to pass the time though so who wins and loses doesn't matter one jot.
I'm a Ryan, Esposito, and Alexis fan myself. I adore the Ryan and Esposito bromance thing. I hope your vacation went well and I am glad you were able to join us for the end. I'm going back and forth on the retiring the character thing because I would really like to see someone new win each time. I think that helps the contest from growing stale. On the other hand I udnerstand why people would be upset if their favorite character couldn't participate anymore. There are pros and cons to both sides.
ReplyDeleteDean gets my vote (as always). I knew he would surprise some people and get to the finale. Glad that good old Supernatural has still some juice left in the tank. I am not expecting Dean to win this competition but he's got far enough to make me proud.
ReplyDeleteGood luck for both fandoms. Great competition, thanks Dahne.
I was positive that Dean would narrowly be beaten by Felicity, who would be beaten solidly by Jane. My bets for the contest were Jane narrowly beating Vincent in the finale. I like this scenario better because now either way I am happy,
ReplyDeleteI'll sit this one out. I don't watch either of the shows and it would be unfair if I were to choose between two characters that I know so little about. So... this comment is here just for the sake of saying a big THANK YOU to Dahne for organising this competition and for making an active effort to keep the conversations in the comment section going (and civil). Thank you :-)
ReplyDeleteMy vote goes to Dean Winchester. I like Kate too, so it will be okay if she wins. Contratulations to both of them! Also, thank you, Dahne, for running this competition ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for being a part of our daily discussion. I've enjoyed talking TV with you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being such an active participant. I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI loved the competition! Thanks for doing it :) I thought the one character per show thing was a great idea, it gave each character more of a chance and stopped any show from having way too many characters on the contest.
ReplyDeleteI was using my phone a lot for the competition and it was never slow, adding the pictures didn't slow it down either.
I think 24 hours is just the right amount of time for voting, it gives everyone a chance to vote no matter where they are living and doesn't keep the people who have voted waiting too long, any longer might drag out the competition too long as well.
I like having 2 male & 2 female nominations, if I could choose any gender I definitely would have had all male so it was nice to have the balance. On the other hand though there are just far more male characters that I find much better than any female characters I would nominate so it was tough to decide.
I like the idea of retiring the winner too just so it's not the same winner every year. Since this is for fun, having the same outcome each year would defeat the purpose! imo anyway.
And I loved the topics! They were my favourite part of the whole thing :P It gave me a way to participate even when there was no one I voted for. It was cool to hear other people's opinions and views on things as well and get some discussions going :)
Dean was easy enough. Never watched castle. And dean will always be one of my all time favourite characters (sinking as I ignore seasons 8 and 9)
ReplyDeleteCongratulatios to Kate and Dean fans for making it to the final, have fun voting Beastie fan
ReplyDeleteI ignore seasons 8 and 9 too. In fact, I prefer to think of both Winchester brothers in terms of seasons 1-3. Glad you had fun and I hope you found at least 1 show to try out.
ReplyDeleteBeckett gets my vote. I loved Jensen when he was in DOOL eons and eons ago as a youngster but SPN just isn't my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dahne for running a classy competition in the arid desert of hiatus season. If you decide to change it, I like the idea of having all of the characters from each show going head to head against each other and winner take all, then starting the competition using the current ranking system. But my favorite part of the competition is that there is only one character per show, makes it more fair and avoids the possibility of only having one show in the final. If you decide not to change the competition, that's fine, it seemed to work very well this year. And mostly, I loved the daily topics! I didn't participate in that particular portion of the contest but I loved reading everyone's comments, they were so intelligent and knowledgeable. Congratulations on making it through to the finals, well done!
No vote today.
ReplyDeleteTV Topic: I didn't like the results ;) no, this was a great comp. Liked the one character per show rule. The timing of it was good because it falls between my Ep Comp and Adam's series comp so it means that the whole summer has something on the site for people to engage in, which is what it's all about. The TV Topic idea is great. It gives people who don't vote on every day's polls something to do, and it's fun discussion.
I reckon it'd be a good idea to prevent repeat winners. If the same character was to win year on year it'd get boring. If the same show won year on year, that wouldn't be that bad. But the same character would be boring. Awesome comp Dahne!
I am so glad to hear that the pictures and extra polls didn't make things drag. I am always worried about that because I have a pretty fast computer and internet connection so sometimes I think things are going well, but then I find out that the extras actually hurt speed.
ReplyDeleteI've had a great time getting to know you better and discussing TV with you. The topics are my favorite part too. It felt like friends having coffee and hanging out, but I could still be in my pajamas and meet with people in different time zones. I love the internet! I had a harder time with choosing female character as well. Or more accurately I had a harder narrowing down the male characters because I would have probably chosen 3 males and 1 female if it were my choice.
Thanks for adding so much to our discussions. I appreciate the time you took to create your responses and keep the conversation going.
"arid desert of hiatus season"
ReplyDeleteHa! I does feel that way sometimes. Thanks for for participating. I never thought of having the characters run against each other before the contest starts. I was thinking that I would just group them all int eh same bracket so they had to go against each other in the first round or two. That actually makes a lot of sense to do it separately. It would take the place of the ranking polls in some cases. That's definitely something to consider as well. Thanks. I'm glad you liked the TV Talk Topics. I hope you feel comfortable enough to join us in a couple next year. :-)
:-P I do like that there are now 3 competitions for the 3 months of summer. I keeps hiatus from getting too boring and gives everyone a time to think about TV before the hectic fall season is upon us. The TV Talk worked better than I expected. Now it's a matter of coming up with 16 more topics. I am definitely leaning towards retiring the winner. That way we don't have the tiring "the same person wins every time" conversation and the contest feels fresh. Thanks for participating and the comments.
ReplyDeleteHoly Cow! Was absolutely sure that the final would be Jane vs. Vincent! As much as I love Beckett (pre-romance seasons) my vote went to Dean. Despite what Carver has done to the show over the last two years, I am excited for S10 Demon Dean simply because Jensen is.
ReplyDeleteToday's Topic: LOVED this competition. There is no overlap so I can keep straight what the vote is and where we are in the comp and there is just enough breathing room between comps to give a nice break without missing when nominations start on the next one.
I liked limiting it to one character per show - it was because of all the commenting on how awesome Stiles is that I decided to give Teen Wolf a try. I found a wonderful gem of a show because of this comp (please note that I will be stalking the UPS dude Thursday as that is my expected delivery date for S1-S3 on DVD!). Likewise, I think having the nominations be limited to 2 males and two females helped keep a better balance in the initial 64.
Pictured didn't slow anything down for me whether I was on my laptop of phone and added a nice touch to the voting. 24 hours voting time is perfect IMO...it keeps the comp moving at a steady (and predictable) pace and gives everyone a chance to vote regardless of where they are in the world.
I like the idea of retiring the winner - keeps it fresh and opens up the nominations to other characters that would normally not be included because of a tendency to stick with long-time favorites. I also really like the predictions contest - next year I'm doing two brackets though so I hopefully fare better than I did this year!
The topics have been great! Since I just started commenting a few months ago, the topics have helped me get comfortable commenting and allowed me to explore favorite shows at a level of detail I can't do with my "real life" friends. Big thanks to Dahne for dedicating so much time to setting up and running the comp as well as keeping discussions lively and civil. Has been great getting to know you better and a joy to find someone with shared interests besides great TV!
Ooh, I hope you enjoy "Bates Motel" when you get the chance to watch it. It's a good show.
ReplyDeleteI feel like a win is not really earned if a major character isn't in the contest.
ReplyDeleteAs long as it's in the summer, it's great whenever.
I thought it would be Vincent vs. Kate
ReplyDeleteI like that idea - and it wouldn't add too much time to the comp if we did more than four polls per day.
ReplyDeletenot possible as kate and vincent was facing each other in the last round...
ReplyDeleteI mean before that round. I should have explained - I thought from the start it would be those 2.
ReplyDeleteBeckett v. Dean Winchester. Tough one. Both are truth seekers with a vengeance forged due to the premature death of their mother. Both have been highly damaged by the incident but cling to characters in their real worlds to connect them to their realities. Both combine a pragmatic and obsessive nature.
ReplyDeleteHowever I feel the key difference is one has accepted her past and fought for a future that was her own rather than anything else... So I vote Kate Beckett.
I'm looking forward to it, It would have lingered in my "maybe someday" pile if it weren't for this contest. Now it's in the to-watch pile, and up towards the top.
ReplyDeleteI'm out voting-wise. Good luck to both fandoms!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the contest, even while not knowing half the shows. It's a fun pastime, the discussions are great and if you have a favorite advancing it's exciting.
I like the idea of a pre-competition where characters from each show compete against each other, then the winner moves on to compete in the grand competition (kinda like in politics, head of parties before parties against each other). That way only one character from each show participates which I like, but all characters have a chance. I would rather not be limited in nominating characters based on gender or any other criteria. I think it should just be 4 (or more) favorites. I was indifferent to the picture polls, I think vids instead of pictures is a great idea.
Not sure about retiring previous winners unless it's just the character and not the entire show so that another character from that show can participate. One thing that has bothered me a little is that cable shows don't really stand a chance (besides GoT, maybe), they're out the second they're up against a major-network show. I would love to have a competition for cable/Netflix shows, or at least a few rounds where they're only paired against each other. That'd be really cool.
I would absolutely love for Kate to win. Not because I don't understand the love for Dean. I actually quite liked him myself in the first 2-3 seasons of the show, and periodically afterward when I could stomach watching it. My problem lies not in the character himself, but in the fact that I really can't stand the openly misogynistic way that particular show treats its female characters, vindictively fridging the ones it doesn't turn evil (and THEN fridge).
ReplyDeleteI have other problems with the show, but that will always be the main one, and the one that drove me away from watching what SHOULD be my favorite show given everything else that it's about. I love the concept and the ideas, but I will never support a show that treats its female characters the way that this show has.
Anyway, on topic, I like the way the contest went overall, on the parts that you can actually control without the polls being unfair. I do believe that a character that has won one year should be ineligible the next year, to keep things interesting. Then they can be eligible the year after.
An idea I had is that you could do a 3rd place match between the two characters who lost in the semi-finals. And if you really feel like it, you can have 5th-8th place matches as well. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for organizing this, it's been fun. I admit that it's frustrating to always see "the usual suspects" (SPN, Castle, BatB, etc.) make it the furthest in the competition, but eh, that's life.
I get that. I really do, but on the other hand, it's just a silly internet poll so a win doesn't mean anything anyway. Part of organizing this contest for me is to keep the biggest number of people involved for the longest amount of time. I feel that by making it a one and done thing, that encourages more people to stay around and less grousing about the same people always winning. Looking at the two competing, if Kate hadn't been in this contest than Castle would have. Kate got 61 votes while Castle got 53. It wouldn't have even changed Castle's ranking if we switched the two out. Similarly, if Dean hadn't been in the contest then Sam would for Supernatural. With Dominion, if Michael hadn't been in, we would have had a nominating poll between Alex and Arika.
ReplyDeleteI guess my main point is that no matter if one of these characters are retired, their show will still be represented next year. While some people will still be upset if the same show wins, at least it will be different characters and the more a show wins, the harder it will be to keep on winning. That makes it more fun for me in the long run.
I think most people did expect Jane vs. Vincent, especially when looking at the nominating numbers. Both characters had over 100 nominations, far more than anyone else in the contest. I am so glad that you are excited about Teen Wolf and I cannot wait until you are caught up. We really do have fun discussing it. Also glad that the pictures and extra polls didn't slow you down either. I just hope your prediction brackets go better next year than mine did this year. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the time and effort you have put into commenting in this contest. It has been great getting to know you too and I am so glad you've gotten the confidence to stop lurking. It really has been fun talking with all of you.
I never really thought about how Dean and Beckett are alike. You are right. That's a very interesting observation. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteLikewise :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is not in the spirit of this contest and it does not make you or the Supernatural fandom look good. The cast and crew of SPN deserve better. A much better plan would be to explain what you like about the character of Dean and add to the conversation instead.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem doing a third and fourth place runoff, but I think beyond that would get excessive. I will include a third and fourth place poll in the summation tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI think that if we retire a character it will be for more than one year, that way there is less chance that the same show will keep winning year after year, which gets frustrating after awhile.
ReplyDeleteBeckett, of course! (don´t watch Supernatural, big Castle fan):)
ReplyDeleteHa! I learned a few new shows myself. Who knew Kelly was a guy? I'm trying to think through the way we could do a primary (going with your example) and still have characters ranked. Also we had characters nominated from more than 64 shows, so obviously we can't do it for all shows nominated. Let me think on the logistics. As far as retiring characters go, only character that have previously won would be out not he show they belong to. It is quite possible that the same show would win back-to-back, just not the same characters.
ReplyDeleteDean = Win
ReplyDeletebeckett!
ReplyDeletesupernatural was never my cup of tea
I feel like it's always the same winners for this kind of pole... It's a bit frustrating.
ReplyDeleteits same stupid characters year after year after year.
ReplyDeletewhen the crazy fans leave this type of contests i will consider voting for convincing characters, with development and personality and not this procedural characters. and im telling this here and im refering to the other competions, like the best tv show, with happens the same stupid thing (or it is castle or supernatural)
Rule #2 of this contest - Leave Sour Grapes on the Vine - Yeah, it sucks when your favorite gets kicked off by a show you hate. Yep, the winning character will come from the most organized fandom that works the hardest to get the word out. Them's the facts of life and internet, folks. It doesn't mean we can't have fun. So discuss why you love your favorite instead of vetching about life's unfairness and bringing down the room. I promise we'll all have more fun that way.
ReplyDeleteRule #2 of this contest - 2. Leave Sour Grapes on the Vine - Yeah, it sucks when your favorite gets kicked off by a show you hate. Yep, the winning character will come from the most organized fandom that works the hardest to get the word out. Them's the facts of life and internet, folks. It doesn't mean we can't have fun. So discuss why you love your favorite instead of vetching about life's unfairness and bringing down the room. I promise we'll all have more fun that way.
ReplyDeleteHu, I never said that I hated Castle or Supernatural. I like Castle, but I don't see the hipe and they are ALWAYS winning. It's not fun when it's the same, every time, there is no challenge.
ReplyDeleteI'm not raging or anything, and I don't see why I couldn't voice my opinion.
Grousing about how the same people win all the time doesn't change anything but it does bring a negativity into the contest we have been working the last 16 days to avoid. It leaves a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Instead why not talk about the characters you like and how awesome they are. Then people may be tempted to try the shows you are talking about and everyone wins.
ReplyDeleteЯ голосую за Дина Винчестера. Удачи ему!
ReplyDeleteWell, it´s understandable that Dean wins almost everything, he has had 10 years and counting of building a super huge fanbase. I despise Supernatural and want nothing to do it, so I´ll vote for Beckett, even though I don´t watch Cstle.
ReplyDeleteSorry, my bad. I didn't want to be taken that way. I just find Dean far more interesting and in my humble opinion he has had far better character development than Kate Beckett.
ReplyDeleteGoing with Dean, but will not be upset if Beckett wins, I have voted for her the whole way.
ReplyDeleteI voted for Beckett, Dean is going to give her a serious run, but I do hope she take it all, either way I know both shows are popular on Spoilertv, the Character Cup, I wouldn't change a thing as you know Dahne, I've thourghly enjoyed it, I don't know how long it's been going on, this is my first time joining in, so I don't know how any other format would work, I enjoyed coming here four times a day to participate, the way I see it if it ain't broke don't fix it, I can't wait to see what you got for next year, I can't think of a single topic that wasn't covered, I enjoyed the break in waiting for this Hiatus to be over!!!
ReplyDeleteDahne, Kudos to you for maintaing such a tight well run, competition, and now, I'm reading a lot of grapes have gotten sour off the vine, you've shown nothing but class in dealing with it, again GREAT job!!!
ReplyDeleteI voted for Kate Beckett. I love the idea of a clever, strong and bad-ass female character winning against the amazing Dean Winchester! :)
ReplyDeleteNo vote for me, but its a pleasant surprise Vincent didn't make it through.
ReplyDeleteI missed a lot of the competition because I was away but it was fun, I definitely think it should be one character per show. I think retiring the winner would be good though I imagine Sam would just get as far as Dean instead!
Why is everyone going mad in the comments? This always seems to happen in the final people start complaining about the whole competition. Its just a little fun thing to do to pass the hiatus , the main idea of these competitions is to have good discussions about TV not to bitch about who is winning or didn't make it etc.
ReplyDeleteDean Winchester all the way. He's the most intriguing character on TV today. And now he's a demon! Even more wild and crazy fun.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch these shows but I voted for Kate Beckett because I'd like that a female character wins the competition.
ReplyDeleteI loved the competition, too bad I was away for most of it. Thanks a lot for taking the time to organize it, I know it was a bit of work
ReplyDeleteI watch Castle because it's fun and light and manage to ignore the sloppy writing most of the time, but I just don't get the huge love for Beckett. For me she is an ok character, I won't remember anything about her (aside from her mother's story) when Castle ends. I mean, she hasn't evolved at all since season 1! But yeah, I'm probably missing something.
I don't watch Supernatural, but It's kind of annoying that it wins every poll :-)
TV Talk Topic: I absolutely love the idea of retiring the winner (maybe also the finalist?) and I would include in the future competition only characters from running shows and maybe have a different competition only for past characters. Also, I wouldn't differentiate between men and women for the nominations, so that we can be completely fair.
probably the best way to think of it. season 4 pretty much ruined sam almost as much as season 8 did.
ReplyDeletelots of fun. and yes! i am halfway through season 2 of orphan black which i tried out after everyone was talking about tatiana maslany. really been enjoying it so thats been good. had some great finds through this website. most notably Fringe which is one of my all time favourites i discovered through spoilertv and i also started (and am about to finish) sherlock which i am loving so much.
I hate to say it but it's becoming an overused character mold: Wounded hero, death of a parent, would be lost except for the connection to a single person, often created by their worst enemy.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all those comments now I really hope Dean wins. I even going to try spread the word.
ReplyDeleteBecause "despise" TV show? Seriously? Sorry, Dahne, hidden maternity instincts just kicked off.
BTW always loved Castle fandom, very respectful and classy guys, its an honor to be in the finals with them. Love Beckett, would vote for her if she wouldn't run against Dean.
About the competition. I am OK with retiring the winner, that what they do in TV Guide competition. But this site needs traffic meaning largest fandoms come and vote. Like at this very moment. Otherwise in the finals you going to have 300 votes per competitor :)
And I would prefer 24 hours break after previous round is done, not 15 minutes. It's too tiring for people who actually actively involved.
Dean Winchester!
ReplyDeleteI went with Beckett since i don't know watch SPN.
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of fun in this competition. I really enjoyed the TV Talk Topic and i hope its included in the next Favorite Character Competition,if there is a next year? I would keep the 24 vote time but maybe make it 36 hrs when it comes to the finale? I would keep this sandwiched in between the other 2 comps that happen during the summer unless you want to have it during winter hiatus? But that's another ball of wax considering its the holidays... Great idea of retiring the winner instead of the same character/actors,it keeps it fresh and interesting.In the last few years it seems its the same people/shows crop up and it gets old seeing them in every competition,even if its only for fun. Would love to see one for past characters,so many great character that i miss dearly!
Dahne,a big Thank YOU to you! This competition took a lot of time and energy for you,answering questions,talking to almost everyone that posted i don't know how you managed this and your personal life? How did you do it? And you did a great job this year keeping everyone in check for the most part. people did seem to get a little cranky towards the end but that goes with the territory i guess. Loved reading everyone's comments even tho i didn't participate as much as i wanted to,next time i guess.
my co-worker's mother-in-law makes $79 an hour on the
ReplyDeleteinternet . She has been fired for 8 months but last month her pay was $13333
just working on the internet for a few hours. take a look at the site here Jam20.COM
Thanks, vacation went well. I'm also understand why someone wouldn't want retire characters. But i just want that other characters from the same tv show would be able compete too.
ReplyDeleteyeah that would be a good idea a 3rd and 4th place poll.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of TV talk was new and absolutely wonderful in this poll, good job ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it turned to an excellent wiki of TV series. Sadly I'm not a TV watcher, a good show must get suggested to me to watch, so I was lost in the discussions. But I noticed that topic about old and new favorite characters could be a start to get to hear about popular and good shows. Unfortunately I didn't know the characters so I was completely lost again, haha!
If we could have a topic about introducing shows by saying why we like/dislike them, as you set in this topic, it'd be amazing. The usual categorizing with genre in TV sites isn't helpful; drama, comedy, romance, ... they're just labels. It's the theme and atmosphere of the show that matter, how the audiences feel, from little things like obnoxious kids to serious concerns like plot-holes/being plot-less or a well-thought plot!
Thank you.
Agreed. My general thought is stop killing the parents off.
ReplyDeleteNow that's a conversation we can get into. Thanks. What is your favorite part of Dean's character? For me it is his loyalty to the people and things (Baby) he loves.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It is very easy to get negative at the end of a contest, but that leads us nowhere but down. Much better to talk about the characters you do love and start a conversation with someone who likes them too, then to harp about things that will not change. In the words of Louis Armstong, "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive."
ReplyDeleteСпасибо за участие.
ReplyDeleteI haven't voted for her but I feel the same way. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you have had fun and thanks so much for participating. I really apprecaite it you helping keep the conversation going. Adam created the character contest in 2010 after the Best Show contest was such a hit. It continued in 2011, but lack of time and things getting nasty particularly at the end seemed to dampen enthusiasm for it. That's why I am so glad that this contest has been so pleasant. It reminded me of what I love about these contests - learning new shows and talking TV with similarly passionate people. That's the kind of stuff that gets me excited about a contest and makes me want to continue it.
ReplyDeleteI have a fondness for smart kick butt women too, so if Dean goes down I will be very happy to have it be for my favorite type of character.
ReplyDeleteYeah, retiring a character will not avoid the same shows being in contest, but it will make it harder for them to win year in and year out. It's a small thing to try to add a little variety. Plus if Dean wins that puts both Dean and Cas out of the contest because Cas won in 2010 or 2011. Not that he or Jack from LOST (the winner in the other year) would have been in the contest this year because Cas was beat by Dean and Sam in the nominations and Jack wasn't even nominated.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It is just a silly little contest that is not worth anyone getting upset about and bringing down the room. This competition has been way too much fun to have people ruin it for everyone now.
ReplyDeleteHa! Dean sure has been through a lot over the years. Hell, heaven, Purgatory, shaifter, vampire, and now demon. I'm surprised the man can even get out of bed these days. :-)
ReplyDeleteVery valid reason to vote. If the vote between Jane and Dean had gone the other way, I would be voting the exact same way.
ReplyDeleteI thought about retiring both characters that made it into the finale but I think people whose character did not win would be very unhappy about that and I can see their point. Every character should have the chance to win once. I've been wavering about male and female voting and still hven't come up with something that feels right. I am thinking about having you guys make that decision through a short poll tonight. After all things went much more smoothly by having you guys make the decisions (which pictures to use and where people were ranked in tiebreakers) . As for having a separate contest for characters from cancelled shows, that has come up a lot in both thise contest and the Best Show one. In the last couple of years, SpoilerTV has been going away from polls in favor of spoilers obviously, BTS stuff, and reviews. I think they are worried about poll fatigue setting in and/or it crowding out the more popular things like spoilers so that the stuff people want from the site gets buried too quickly. I am not opposed to doing a separate contest, but there is always the USD polls to discuss that too. I would love to see a poll about classic TV characters instead of yet another one on which character so and so will end up with.
ReplyDeleteRetiring the winner would in reality not change the shows that are in the contest, just the characters representing them. Castle would replace Beckett as the most nominated from their show. Sam would be in the contest instead of Dean. There were very few shows that did not have another character with enough votes to get in that made it past round 2. Many people only nominated characters from the same show even if the nominations cancelled each other out so no main show on SpoilerTV would have been left hanging. Oliver from Arrow had 31 nominations, which was enough to leap him into the top 10, if Felicity hadn't gotten 49 nominations. OUaT would have been represented by Hook instead of Regina. I'm not worried about not having anyone for the main shows. It's more to keep people from grousing if the same character wins twice in a row.
ReplyDeleteI did think about putting a break in the contest at certain parts (like when I was supposed to be writing and posting my column - looks away sheepishly), but I've found over the years that having breaks makes the cotnest feel like it is dragging and worse makes people upset if they realize they missed a poll altogether. My goal was to keep it as consistent as possible so people always knew what to expect.
I think its definitely something to think about for it next year, its nice to see other characters and shows do well.
ReplyDeleteTV Talk was my favorite part too so I would love to include it next year, but people will have to help me come up with topics because my brain is tapped out right now. The contest is going to need to be in the summer because it takes 16 days and my winter break isn't that long. In order to have the time to respond to everyone and encourage them to keep discussing, it has to be when I'm not at work. I wouldn't be opposed to doing a less involved contest then but that's usually when the year end awards contest happens.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating. I appreciate every time you had a chance to give us your thoughts and play along. It's always a joy to talk TV with you. I am pleasantly surprised that people remained uncranky for as long as they did and that made for a happier contest for me. It's great when people focus on telling us what they love about characters instead of grousing over the same things.
Beckett is fourth on the list of characters I like on Castle, behind Castle, Esposito and Ryan. If it had been Nathan Fillion, especially as Malcolm Reynolds, I might have voted for him just as a change to Dean. That does not mean though that I think a character should be retired. If they are good enough to make it every year they should be on the list. Not sure about the more than one character per show. I always hate it when one show, like Modern Family, takes over the entire list of Emmy nominees so maybe no more than 2 per show?
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent TV Talk Topic. Thank you for suggesting it. I will put it on our list for next year. And thanks for participating.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Beckett deserves it! She's a huge role model and her character is very deep, understanding, loving, fun, and everything that you want in atv character who can be realistic!
ReplyDeleteI meant to also say thank you to Dahne. I know it was a lot of work and thanks for keeping it civil. I've gotten where I avoid discussions on certain shows because it just gets so nasty. This was fun
ReplyDeleteDean, always.
ReplyDeleteOf all the things I debated about when reorganizing this contest, the male and female thing was the one I spent the most time on. The reason I ultimately decided to have only one character is that 12-20 shows would then have 2 (cutting up to a third of the shows participating), each of whom could potentially have gone against each other toward the end of the contest which infuriates people to no end. Looking over the nominations, if we had done it that way it is possible that Walter would still not have made it in because he only got 6 nominations. At best he would be in a tiebreaker to see who entered the contest. I think that the best way to get Walter in the contest for sure next time is to campaign for him at the nominating stage. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat are your favorite smart kick butt women? (Except Kira and Malia :) )
ReplyDeleteMy first favorite ever, that I loved so much when I was a little girl, was Emma Peel/Diana Rigg from The Avengers. I know it's quite an old show but she's still for me a reference for my fav type of character.
Scully from X-Files, Fiona from Burn Notice, Olivia from Fringe, Sarah Linden from The Killing or Donna on Suits are among my favorite women on TV.
And the latest is Eva Green's Vanessa Ives. She's not kicking many butts but she's a strong, smart, amazing woman.
In all honesty I was shocked because no one nominated Malcolm Reynolds. I truly expected both Reynolds and Castle to be in the contest and have people upset when they went up against each other. I get the whole characters have to win on their own merit thing. That's why I didn't make it mandatory to have an equal number of males and females like the contest originally did. Still I think there is something fresh about having a new character win every year. The winning show will still have a candidate in, just a different one. When looking at allowing two characters from a show, as little as 42 shows could have been represented, knocking a full third of the shows out of the contest before it started and possibly ending with the same series going against each other in the finale.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating. I appreciate how awesome the conversation has been too. It is very easy for things to get nasty, as you said, and this contest was largely a nice break from that. It is a credit to all the fabulous commentators hear at SpoilerTV and what makes it a joy for me too. I love being a part of such a great community.
ReplyDeleteYou speak Russian ???
ReplyDeleteMy absolute favorite smart kick butt woman is Fiona from Burn Notice. I loved how she was equally comfortable exploding things, shooting at someone, and shopping for shoes. Fiona was a stone cold mercenary when she had to be, but still not afraid to let the girlie parts of her personality shine. That is a rare but beautiful thing. Sometimes I think they limit kick butt women to one somewhat flat character aspect because they are afraid that if they show more than one side, it will diminsh their role as enforcer.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I also adore May on SHEILD. She has more moves than almost any character on TV, male or female, and she's just so cool doing it. Both Buffy and Scully were early TV role models for me. Buffy empowered teens and adult women even if we weren't super powered like her. Scully I aodred because she was the scientist and skeptic at a time when many females were portrayed as the more emotional ones in a partnership. Scully made it acceptable on TV for a woman to be smarter than their partner, and I loved it.
Aeryn Sun on Farscape quickly became one of my favorite kick butt women and all around one of my favorite sci fi characters, regardless of gender. She didn't take anyting from anyone. Same thing for Mary on In Plain Sight and Diana on White Collar. Lily Rush is another particular favorite in the crime show genre, as well as Abby and Ziva on NCIS. Other female characters I loved: Sarah on Arrow (before they trounced her character with a freaking love triangle), Abbie from Sleepy Hollow, Hetty from NCIS: LA, Raven on Highlander (most of the time), Annie on Covert Affairs, Octavia on The 100, Nikita on La Femme Nikita, Kate on Perception, Anana on Helix, Charlie from Graceland, Carter and Zoe from Person of Interest, Ana on Wonderland, Malia from Teen Wolf, Jody and Ellen on Supernatural, and Veronica Mars. Female characters I loved that may not always be considered kick butt but were smart, capable, and more often than not saved the day: Lorelai Gilmore of Gilmore Girls, Rosalee from Grimm, Parker from Leverage (who is one of my favorite female characters of all time - she rocks in all ways), Jenna Simmons from SHIELD, Maddie from Moonlighting, Abby on The 100, Joan from Elementary, Perez on Enlisted, Laura from Remington Steele, Lydia from Teen Wolf, Sharon from Major Crimes, Diane on Trophy Wife, and Claudia from Warehouse 13. I also adored Nancy Drew as a kid.
Thanks for bringing up this topic. It was great fun reminiscing over my favorite TV women. I think it should definitely be a TV Talk Topic next year.
Nope. I speak Google Translate. :-P
ReplyDeleteYep, I might do the same next year, because some of my favorites are sure to get in aswell.
ReplyDeleteI voted for Stana Katic, not because of Castle (which I don't watch, nor do I watch Supernatural (yet?)), but simply because I liked her in the fifth season of 24, and it would be nice to have a first-time winner — it doesn't seem to me that over the past few years Castle ever went beyond the semi-finals stage in the two-three competitions held yearly on Spoiler TV.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats for a running a smooth competition, Dahne. My favorites did not enter the competition or were knocked out very early, but I was still interested to see how it'd play out, so kudos to you for the work it must have been to organize this.
You're welcome! :) And I couldn't agree more about Fiona!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I didn't know Stana was in 24. How cool! I had not heard of her before Castle. Speaking of, Castle won the Best Show contest in 2012 and 3 year end awards but other than that, it has been in semi-final status most of the time. Thanks for participating in this contest. That Tyrion race was so exciting to watch. I expect he will do even better next year. There were some close polls that would have changed the competition makeup this year and that is always fun to see.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a shame that women are not as equal as men. In the main cast of a show, you will (always) have more men than women and the creators are (very) often men too.
ReplyDeleteTrue. That is my main argument for keeping the nominations at 2 male and 2 female.
ReplyDeleteТолько Дин, только хардкор! пусть он победит
ReplyDeletep.s. спасибо русскому фандому SPN за активное участие )) мы правда большая дружная семья )
Thank you Dahne for a fun, fun poll. It was a great way to honor our favorites, pass the hiatus and read great commentary on shows we may not have otherwise thought to watch.
ReplyDeleteI like the poll just as it is. I also think retiring the winner is a great idea.
Dean is my absolute favorite character. For his heart, his loyalty and his perseverance. Not many characters are as well developed as Dean, nor do a lot have his depth of soul. Jensen Ackles doesn't get enough credit. With that said, I really thought Kate would win this competition. I'm happy to be wrong but I would have been happy with either.
What other polls can your creative genius come up with?
Thank you for adding so much to the discussion. And for being one of my favorite people to tweet with. I agree 100% about Dean, especially his underlying loyalty which puts family first. He is one of the few characters that I completely connected to and of which I got hooked on right away. When he got down to Lucas' level in the third episode, and talked to him not at him, he grabbed my interest and my heart and made him one of the few characters that I never got bored with. I might have dropped the show, but no show runner can ever take the essence of Dean's character from me no matter how hard he tries.
ReplyDeleteAs for my "creative genius" (Bwah!), it has to be in meetings for the new school year next week. The only poll I am working on until the fall season starts is the Teen Wolf Best Scene Poll which should be up by 7:30 CST tonight. :-)
Русский SPN фэндома потрясающая всегда!
ReplyDeleteThank you. we tried)))
ReplyDeleteWow, Dean brought it home that was some serious voting, congrats to you guys, it was a hard fought round, Beckett gave her all but, those Winchesters can't be stopped, congrats again!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for staying positive and adding to the conversation throughout.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dahne for doing all of this! It has been fun and I especially loved the TV Talk Topic!
ReplyDeleteThere was really nothing I didn't like. I think everybody seemed to get a long and there wasn't hard feelings over fandoms this time! Reading your comments to the topic, I have to disagree a bit.
I think it would be fun once to see characters from the same show go up against each other, especially for shows that never really had that kind of a poll! (I mean seriously curious who would win a Hannibal vs Bedelia Vs. Will contest! or Tyrion vs Jaime vs Arya vs Dany vs Jon Snow vs Brienne??) or like your favorite serial killer poll! (Dexter, Hannibal, Norman Bates, Benjamin Linus, The Man in Black, Sebastian Monroe, Miles Matheson, Arthur Mitchell, Hannah McKay, Bill Compton, Eric Northman, Regina Mills, Rumple, ect, ect, ect) XD
Thanks so much for participating and all your excellent comments. It really made things more fun. I am not opposed to doing it where whoever gets the nominations is in the poll instead of limiting it to one character per show, but I do think people would be mad when all 4 of the polls on the first day were say Beauty and the Beast characters. And that's what we would get for at least 4 of the first 8 days - all the polls being taken over by a hanfdul of shows. It would likely bump out shows like Fringe and The X-Files as well. I do think that favorite serial killer would make an excellent USD poll though. Imagine the fun if it came out around Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to do the contest.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've already determined, given the missives I posted, that I greatly enjoyed the TV Topics. Really interesting reading/discussions.
With regard to the contest...I think the only thing that might have made it more fun for me would have been to only have characters from shows I watch available to vote for and I can't think of a single way that could be accomplished without reducing you to a crazy person on Thorazine. (My plan went as far as...we could check off what shows we wanted to follow...then the practical insanity showed itself. :-)
I hope it will continue this way.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I don't think my technology skills are advanced enough to personally individualize the contest for every person participating. :-P Thanks so much for being a lot of fun to converse with throughout the contest.
ReplyDeleteThanks and right back at you!
ReplyDelete